The podcast discussed various points throughout history where smallpox was used as a weapon and harmed many people. Until the 1970's, when a vaccine was created, smallpox was actively used as a weapon.
Public health and bioterrorism relate a great deal. There are numerous illnesses out there that can be used as for bioterrorism such as TB, Measles, and Anthrax. It is the goal of public health organizations to prevent this from happening so that it won't destroy specific populations. I believe that currently people should be worried about the use of smallpox and other infectious diseases as weapons simply because we do not have cures for many of them. We do have a vaccine for smallpox, yet there is no manufacturer that makes the needle necessary for the vaccine. Therefore smallpox could eventually be used as a tool for bioterrorism.
I think that since we do have a vaccine for smallpox, that has left us vulnerable to other more severe diseases that we cannot easily access vaccinations for. I know that smallpox is a terrible disease that is easily spread, but we at least know how to eradicate it. This leaves us open to other extreme diseases in which we have no vaccination for. Other successes of public health that have left us vulnerable include diarrhea and influenza. People are still dieing all over the world from these two infections, but in America that number is limited. Because of this, Americans are now living longer which makes us more vulnerable to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Even though some public health successes leave people vulnerable to other diseases, people working in that field still need to try and conquer all of the infectious diseases out there. Without public health people would definitely not have the quality of life they enjoy today.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What I would be even more scared for is the threat of polio used in bioterrorism. The only reason why it has been erradicated in the United States is because we made it a nation wide effort to erradicate the disease through vaccinations. We don't reqire getting the polio vaccine anymore because we rely on herd immnuity. But what would happen if polio was used as a bioterrorist threat? It isn't as easily detectable as smallpox and we don't have a manuafacturer that could produce the vaccine fast enough to meet the demands of the epidemic. So not only would we be really susceptible to the disease but we would have a hard time tracking and treating it.
ReplyDeleteA major issue with any bio terrorism threat is the fact that most of the diseases used as weapons are easily modified to be resistant to current vaccinations. This stresses the need for public health awareness and efforts to keep vaccinations readily available to major populations through out the world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I served in the Navy, we would go through Bio-Terrorism drills on a regular basis. This would bring us to an highten awareness of the possibilities of such an attack. What makes Bio-Terrorism a scary subject, is the fact of the damage that such an attack can inflict, not only physically but mentally as well. While through the wonders of science and medicine, we have been able to eradicate a number of illness, we have still put ourselves at agreat risk. You brought up the point of us not being able to respond quickly to an bio-attack of smallpox because of the lack of a manufacture for the needle. This seems to be a major pit-fall in our health care system. We eradicate a disease then put it at the back of our minds with the idea that we will not need to address this. This mentallity has left us vulnerable, and that is what scares me. How fast can a manufacture ramp up production on a vaccine when its been a long time since we needed one, and how can we be sure that the vaccine will work properly? What if the disease has mutated? Just some thoughts!
ReplyDelete